Home
by bobdabuilder0804
Summary: S6, Jack and Audrey in Chine. Please review! Complete.


It was always dark. Audrey shivered. She was scared. How long had she been held captive? Weeks, months? She had been unharmed, but the mere fact that they didn't want her information made her anxious. The only time she had been addressed by her kidnappers was to confirm her identity: Audrey Rains, daughter of retired James Heller. They had her file. They knew she had access to classified information, but they didn't expect her to part with it. The guards left food in her cell twice daily, and that was the extent of her contact with her captors. Audrey was confused, why take her, if they didn't want her?

Their indifference to her presence scared her more than her actual imprisonment. If they didn't want her information, Audrey knew that could only mean she had another use. To get to Jack. She knew she had been getting close to the trail, she had unearthed three secret prison camps during her three weeks in China. Then she had been hijacked from her rental car and transferred to what she assumed was another undiscovered prison camp.

Was Jack here? 

It was always silent. She had grown to relish the moment the guards brought her food, because she was comforted by the noise of their heavy boots and the clanging of the metal grid as it was pulled open to enable the men to slide her food inside. She craved the contact, even though it was minimal, it meant she wasn't alone. 

Audrey tried not to think of Jack and his possible treatment at the hands of the Chinese. She tried to delude herself that he would be unharmed, like herself. But she couldn't make herself believe the lie. Still, she couldn't force herself to imagine the pains he would, and had already suffered. But he had. She knew. He wouldn't talk. He wouldn't break. He hadn't given any information up - if he had, she wouldn't be here. Maybe she would be dead, or still searching for him. They needed her, to make Jack talk. That much was obvious to her, but then why was she still isolated, after all of this time?

Did they need her at all? 

Maybe she had misjudged her situation. Maybe she was clinging onto blind hope. Was she deluded over her own worth? Would Jack even talk, if they threatened to hurt her, instead of him? Would he even remember her, Audrey wondered, as she ran her fingers through her greasy hair, remembering the way Jack would gently brush her hair away from her face. She tried not to cry from fear when the men entered her cell.

This had never happened before.

The change in routine scared her. While she relished the sounds of the guards, their immediate presence terrified her, and instinctively, she tried to crawl to the corner of her cell when they approached her. She was almost carried through the dark tunnel of cell blocks, too weak to hold her own weight. The two guards were silent as they moved her, their faces determined, but they didn't hurt her.

Why weren't they hurting her?

The men took her outside. She could see the sky. It was dark. Audrey looked up at the stars in wonder, before she was led towards an aircraft hanger. She stared dumbly at the large cargo plane; were they taking her home? Why would they let her go when they had gained nothing from her imprisonment? 

Were they taking her to Jack?

Cheng approached, and for the first time, the guards grip on her arms became bruising as she tried to get away from the suited man, intimidated by his presence alone. The man was responsible for her kidnapping, the man stole Jack away from her; the man had taken both of their lives. 

"Miss Raines."

Audrey tried to stay silent, but was unable to help herself. After being surrounded by silence, to hear her own name was a pleasure. She was defiant though.

"Where is Jack?"

The man, Cheng, smiled, and then reached out towards her. He gently ran his thumb across her chin, and Audrey squeezed her eyes shut in fear.

"If Jack follows orders, you could be home this time tomorrow."

Audrey felt her stomach tighten. Orders? Had they brainwashed him? Would Jack work against the US?

"He won't betray his country, not for me!"

Cheng smiled, mocking, but said nothing more. Instead, he nodded his head to the guards, before hurrying away. Audrey yelled as one held her against the wall while the other placed a strip of duck tape over her mouth. She tried to scream but her voice was muffled. The guards held her firmly in their grip, and Audrey watched, frightened, as Cheng appeared once more, just a few hundred yards away, with a prisoner in toe.

Audrey sagged against the men as she finally saw him. Jack. Alive! His long ratty hair and slumped shoulders made her eyes water. What had they done to him? She watched carefully as Jack slowly followed the guard before him, the man behind occasionally prodding him with his gun. The intimidation wasn't necessary, Jack offered no struggle as he plodded behind the guard, his hands cuffed and his eyes never leaving the ground, concentrating solely on the task of placing one foot before the other.

The two men later led her into the plane, and after seating her on the ground, they stood guard on either side of her. Without moving Audrey scanned the small, cramped space for Jack, but he couldn't be seen. She began to panic. Before the plane took off, Audrey saw Cheng leave a small room at the back of the craft. He nodded to the three men waiting for him, and then took a seat. One guard entered the room, the other two, after locking the door from the outside, stood guard. It was Jack. He was here. They were taking them home. Audrey swallowed hard, and then allowed tears to fall from her eyes. Tears of relief, and tears of fear. They were taking them home, but it wasn't over yet.


End file.
